Cato Salsa Experience
The Fruit is still Fresh
Garralda Records

Meet the hardest working band in Norway: Cato Salsa Experience! And (along with Ricochets, Madrugada, and Motorpsycho) they're also one of the most credible rock bands around our shores. I had the pleasure of seeing the latter half (to bad I missed the full set) of their performance at this years Roskilde Festival, Denmark, to experience what a great live band they are. So what about recordings then?

The Fruit is still Fresh is album number two (their debut A Good Tip For A Good Time came almost three years ago), with more of their garage'n'roll rhythm'n'grooves. Or; maybe one of the titles of the songs from this album is a fitting tag: "Rock'n'Soul". Their sounds twist and turns, and even though this music really begs to be performed live it works remarkably well on disc. Much thanks to the tightness of the band and the arrangements of the songs. The mixture of the charisma and energy of front man (singer/guitarist) Christian Engfelt, the dancing and playful bass thrills of Cato "Salsa" Thomassen, the steady drum-beat from the hands and feet of Jon M. Riise, all topped or touched with a spicy taste of organ by Nina Bjørndalen.

CSX have played 200 gigs the last three years, which is understandable when listening to how tight and punchy The Fruit... is. A few tracks: opening song "Living Longer Each Year"; the energetic "Runaround"; the explosive "Up & Around"; the slightly Television/Tom Verlaine-ish (guitars!) "Waiting For The Summer Sun". Plus my fave of them all: "Candyman", which is a rolling, stomping, thundering, whispering, blistering song.

Good luck around the world, CSX. Guess he success will increase (they've already been on tv soundtracks in Jackass and The Osbournes). In the USA they're (along with Ralph Myerz and the Jack Herren Band) signed to Emperor Norton Records. In Japan Epic/Sony distribute the CSX groove-machine.

Copyright © 2003 Håvard Oppøyen